Baker makes a stand, gets pin, qualifies for state
KEARNEY – Next week, Richmond sophomore Taylor Baker will participate in a state girls wrestling tournament for the first time, in part, because she literally stood on her own two feet last week.
Competing in the 155-pound division at the Class 1 District 4 Tournament, Taylor was deadlocked 0-0 with Mid-Buchanan’s
Vivian Stockbauer
after two periods in the wrestleback semifinals. Having dropped one match in the Feb. 13-14 double-elimination tournament at Kearney High School, Baker needed to find a way to win to keep her season going.
She found a way. And it started with Baker taking a 1-0 lead by getting out of the bottom position by standing up to break free from Stockbauer’s clutches to score an escape.
“I feel like it changed the pace of the match, and I think it told my opponent that I wasn’t going to go down without a fight and that she couldn’t beat me, like she did on the first day,” Baker said.
Scoring the escape “was great,” Richmond girls coach Samantha Mumm said.
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